Along For The Ride
by catsaretriangles
Summary: Femslash/AU/Yaten is an aspiring show jumper from Japan who decided to go to a well known riding school in the USA to pursue her passion. But while she's there she unexpectedly finds love along the way with another aspiring show jumper while she continues to try and become number 1.


**Author's Note: Hey guys! This is a new story I'm writing casually and I hope you'll enjoy it. I ride horses in real life and this is just a fun story I've been wanting to make for a while. I hope you guys will enjoy it!**

/

When Yaten Kou first arrived in America the one thing she was not expecting was to fall in love with a cocky yet handsome raven haired stranger. Namely a female stranger.

Yaten had loved horseback riding her whole life and had been taking lessons since she was just a little girl. When she was 5 her parents had bought her a beautiful palomino connemara mare named Cherry and with her she'd learned how to jump and soon they began winning ribbon after ribbon in every show they competed in. When Yaten turned 15 she picked up a part time job so she could help with the cost of caring for her precious pony and to keep paying for her lessons as she was quickly advancing in her skills throughout the years and was competing at higher and higher levels.

Her and Cherry made a great team but eventually when the mare hit age 19 she begun to slow down and wasn't as fast and agile as she used to be. She wasn't quite as good under saddle any more and she could barely keep up a canter for a couple minutes without having to stop. Yaten hated that her beloved mare was slowing down, especially since most horses didn't start to slow down until they were in their 20s but she knew she had to do what was best for her and so she semi retired her, only riding her once in a blue moon for a casual trail ride where she wouldn't push her further then a walk unless the spunky mare decided she had the energy to go for a trot or maybe a short canter.

For a while Yaten stuck to just her riding lessons until she had enough money to buy a new horse to compete with. She began searching around, trying horse after horse with none of them seeming to be the right fit until she stumbled across the perfect fit. Mochi was only a 3 year old when she saw her for the first time, she was green and hadn't even had a saddle put on her back yet. She was a beautiful dapple grey hanoverian mare with a white blaze and a white sock on her front left hoof who stood at 16.1 hands high and when Yaten watched as her owner put her on the lunge line for her to see her movements she was amazed at how fluid her trot and canter was and how she moved so gracefully.

Every single penny she'd earned went to the cost of buying her and paying for her tack and upkeep. She broke her in herself with the help of her trainer and Mochi was a natural at jumping, breezing over every jump in her path as if it were nothing. They tackled show after show together and were an amazing team. But when Yaten turned 18 her trainer approached her to have a conversation. She told her that her and Mochi could reach olympic level at the rate they were going but she wasn't skilled enough to take them that far.

Yaten's heart sunk in her chest at her trainer's words but before she had a chance to speak her trainer passed her a pamphlet. She told her there was a well known riding school in the united states where most of her more advanced students went to keep training and eventually reach higher levels like international competitions and even the olympics. They trained show jumpers, dressage riders, eventers, reiners, barrel racers, they had programs for every discipline although it did cost a pretty penny to attend.

Yaten mulled it over for a while as she knew it was expensive. However after a long while of thinking things over she eventually decided she needed to pursue her dreams and go for it, taking out a student loan to cover the cost as she took out a work visa to allow her to get a part time job while she was living there. Her parent's agreed to pay for all of Mochi's expenses for her while she was down there which alleviated a lot of her stress.

Before she knew it the day had come for her to board the plane to America. She knew she had to wake up early to make it to her flight yet she still set an alarm two hours before she needed to get up so she could go see Cherry one last time before leaving. She'd kept Mochi boarded at a stable in the city but she lived out in the country area with her parents and they had a small stable and arena out back where Cherry lived now that she was retired.

She headed outside in the dark, the moon shining over her as she made her way to her pony's stall. She peered in to see the palomino sound asleep and she chuckled as she gently knocked on the stall door. The pony startled awake and let out a loud whinny as she began backing up in fear.

"Hey girl its just me, you're alright." Yaten whispered as the mare began to settle at the sound of her voice. She opened the gate and walked in, rubbing the mare's forehead as the mare nickered softly. "I didn't mean to startle you, I know its dark and you were sound asleep so I can see why you got so scared. But I'm leaving today and won't see you for almost a year." she said with a sigh as she placed her pink halter over the palomino's head, clasping it shut and attaching the lead rope to it as she led her out of the stall.

She led her over to the mounting block which had been left outside their little outdoor arena and she removed the lead rope and tossed it around the mare's neck like it was reins and she hopped onto the mounting block and quickly jumped onto the mare's back. She gave her a quick squeeze with her feet and a little verbal cluck and Cherry began to walk at a slow steady pace.

Yaten had done this plenty of times although normally not this late at night. She was used to just taking her out of her stall and hopping on like it was nothing, she enjoyed riding bareback and she knew Cherry like the back of her hand. As they walked through the fields out back she felt a tear slide down her cheek. She hadn't even realized she'd started crying although it figured as much that she'd start crying since Cherry was her best friend and had been a part of her life for so long.

"Woah." she said quietly and the mare came to a halt. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around the pony's neck and she heard a soft nicker in response. "I'm going to miss you. I love you so much." she said softly before breaking down in tears. The mare began walking forward but Yaten didn't try and stop her. She knew her better then anyone else and she knew she wasn't going far so she let her carry her as she cried into her neck before they eventually made it back home.

She put the mare back in her stall and took her halter off as she pulled a scotch mint out from her pocket. She held out her hand with the treat in it and Cherry immediately picked up on the scent and began sniffing her hand until she picked up on the treat there and snatched it away. Yaten couldn't help but chuckle at her as she stroked her neck and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm going to miss you. Be good to my parents, ok? I'll see you again in a year so don't cause too much trouble before I get back." she whispered, tears blurring her vision as she stepped out of her stall and slowly closed the door behind her, taking one last glance at her best friend before hurrying inside to get ready.

It didn't take long for her to get dressed and after she'd grabbed an apple from the fridge to eat it was time to leave for the airport. Her parents were driving her and at the same time as she was leaving Mochi was being transported to her own flight from her trainer at her now former barn. Her trainer was loading her into her trailer and then would get her to the airport and would help load her onto the plane and once she arrived in the US she would be picked up by a staff member from the riding school who would transport her to the school's barn and get her settled into her new home until Yaten could get there.

Yaten stared at her plane ticket in her hand as her parents walked with her through the huge airport doors, she still couldn't believe she was moving to California especially when she'd never set foot out of Japan.

Her parents each took turns hugging her goodbye and giving her a kiss on the head before it was time for her to send her luggage off and go through security. She took one last glance at them as she entered the security lineup and blew them a kiss. Her mom was crying and her dad was waving at her as she slowly made her way up the line. She waved at them one last time before it was her turn to go through security and they were no longer in her line of sight.

A little under an hour later it was time for her to board her flight. She settled into her seat next to a window and pulled her blanket out of her carry on bag as she did her seat belt up. She sighed as she pulled her blanket around herself and rested her head against the window, the flight attendent's safety speech dulling to a mere buzz in her ears as the plane began to move. She took one last look at her plane ticket in her hand and smiled, clutching it close to her chest as she shut her eyes.

"America here I come."

/

She eventually landed in California and after she claimed her luggage she caught a cab to her new home. The riding school had dorms that were only about a 5 minute walk to where the barns were located and she'd managed to snag a dorm all to herself. Once she arrived and found her dorm she'd quickly began arranging things in her room before exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep.

When she woke up the next day the first thing she did after grabbing breakfast downstairs and taking a quick shower was head out and walk over to the barn to go see Mochi. It was hot outside and she had to carry all her tack with her so she could arrange it in her tack locker and it was quickly weighing her down. Thankfuly the arena was close so she didn't break too much of a sweat but when she stepped inside she was in awe of how big the place was.

The area where all the stalls were kept was divided in half where on the left half the western horses were kept and the right half was where all the english horses were. Yaten had to guess there was probably a good couple hundred stalls in there and she had no clue how she was going to find Mochi. She found the tack room first which was located near the front and she was had to glance down at the paper in her hands multiple times to check which number hers was. Eventually she found it and quickly unloaded her tack and began arranging it carefully before locking it up.

Then began the search to find Mochi. Thankfully most of the stalls had notes next to them with information on the horses which helped her but she didn't even have to glance at the notes on the stall when she heard a loud whinny from behind her. She turned around and instantly recognized the mare who was peering at her over her stall door. She glanced at the notes on her stall which confirmed her thoughts and she opened the stall door carefully as she walked in, locking it behind her as she stroked the mare's forehead.

"Hey girl, how was your trip here?" she asked sweetly as the mare let out a nicker in response. She chuckled at her as she patted her on the neck. "I'm thinking today I'm just going to lunge you for a bit, does that sound good?"

Mochi tossed her head before resuming to munch on her hay on the floor of her stall.

Yaten rolled her eyes as she opened the gate and closed it behind her. "Just wait here, I'll go see if an arena is free to use."

She began walking towards the end of the hall where the arenas were located and began peering around. The western riders had three different indoor arenas to use and the english riders had four, plus there were five outdoor arenas for when the weather was nice. She looked in on the first three arenas and saw that they were all being used by groups of people. She sighed as she walked into the fourth one, hoping it would be empty so she could work her mare.

To her luck the arena was almost completely empty except for one girl. She was riding a tall black gelding, her black hair tied in a long ponytail behind her as the two cantered around the arena at a smooth and steady pace. There were relatively big jumps set up around the arena and Yaten could only stare in amazement as the two cleared each jump like it was nothing.

After the gelding cleared a jump that was easily over 3 feet, the raven haired rider patted him on the neck as she slowed him down to a working trot. "Good boy." she said as she slowly began to bring him down to a walk.

Yaten had been rendered speechless and the other girl noticed her watching her as she waved at her from across the arena.

"Hey, were you wanting to use the arena?"

"If you don't mind I was hoping to lunge my mare but if you're still riding I can wait!"

The raven haired girl laughed as she shook her head. "No its fine, I'm just cooling Indie out. He's had enough exercise for one day." she said as the gelding snorted in response. "Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around."

"Yeah I just got here yesterday, I flew here all the way from Japan."

"Oh cool another japanese student! I'm from Japan as well, my roommate is also from there, you'll probably see her around at some point. What discipline do you ride?"

"Show jumping, I'm assuming that's yours as well?"

The other girl smiled as she nodded her head. "Yep! My name's Seiya by the way."

Yaten smiled at her as she halted the horse and hopped off. "My name's Yaten." she replied as Seiya took the reins off Indie's head and began leading him out of the arena.

"Well its nice to meet you Yaten!" Seiya said as the two began walking down the barn aisles side by side. Seiya stopped at the stall next to Mochi's and opened the gate, leading him inside as she shut it behind her.

"Oh hey our horses are stall buddies." the silver haired girl said jokingly.

"That's your mare?" Seiya asked as she stepped out of the stall with Indie's bridle, putting it on the hook outside the stall as she switched it out for his halter. She peered in at the grey mare and smiled at her. "She's beautiful! What's her name?"

"This is Mochi. She's a hanoverian."

"Indie's a dutch warmblood but I swear he has the energy of a thoroughbred and the fiery personality of a little shetland pony."

Yaten burst out laughing as Seiya came out with the rest of his tack in her arms. "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"It depends on the day."

The two kept chatting for a little while longer before another girl leading a tall chestnut mare walked past them and Seiya waved her over. "Taiki come here, there's someone you should meet!"

The brunette looked over in the direction of the two other girls before backing her mare up so she could get closer. "What is it? Did you make a new friend?" she asked, the mare in hand pawing at the ground as she whinnied.

"This is Yaten, she's also from Japan!"Seiya exclaimed as Yaten gave a tiny wave. "Yaten this is Taiki, she's my roommate."

Taiki smiled at her as she extended her one free hand. "Hey Yaten nice to meet you."

Yaten returned the smile as she shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. Your mare is gorgeous, what breed is she?"

"Rin is a westphalian. She's built more for jumping but I'm a dressage rider although luckily for me she does pretty well at it." the brunette laughed. The mare snorted as she leaned her head down to sniff the ground, she had a long white blaze and both her back socks were white. "I should get to the arena though. She needs to be exercised as I haven't ridden her much this past week." she said just as another girl came walking by with her horse in tow.

The girl had long wavy blue hair and behind her was a tall buckskin stallion who seemed to float along behind her.

Yaten's eyes widened as she watched the pair walk past her, completely mesmorized by the gorgeous horse in tow. "Wow, that's a stunning horse, he's gorgeous!"

"That's Michiru." Seiya whispered. "She's a year above us and she's dating another sophomore here. Her girlfriend Haruka is in the reining program and Michiru is in the dressage program and she's pretty damn good at it. That stallion of hers is a buckskin andalusian imported right from Spain, his name is Apolo."

"Wow, she looks really intimidating." Yaten replied.

"Honestly she's kind of rude. She and Haruka are both from the US and Michiru came from a rich family and she's really stuck up."

Yaten nodded as she watched Taiki walk off towards the arena. "Noted." she said, grabbing Mochi's halter and entering her stall once more.

"Anyways I have to go tidy my dorm room but I'll see you around?"

Yaten looked up at the raven haired girl and smiled as she put the halter over her mare's head and attached the lead rope. "I'll see you around Seiya." she replied before leading Mochi out of the stall.

She led her over to the empty arena and pulled out her lunge line and clipped it onto the side of her mare's halter as she removed the lead rope. She cued Mochi into a walk and after a minute she cued her into a trot and then into a canter. She smiled as the mare cantered around her in circles and she felt herself relax into the moment.

She was in for a crazy adventure that's for sure.


End file.
